The Departed - Darius Kasparaitis - 06-22-10
Given this man's popularity, this probably deserved its own post.
Former Penguins defenseman Darius Kasparaitis officially retired as a player and became an assistant coach with SKA St. Petersburg in the KHL. Kasparaitis had spent the past three seasons with St. Petersburg as a player but missed all of last season due to a groin injury.
Penguins fans first became familiar with Kasparatis as an enemy. As a rookie in 1992-93, he played a big role in the Islanders' monumental upset of the Presidents' Trophy winning Penguins in the Patrick Division final. His antagonizing but physical style played a significant role in limiting the Penguins' ample offense that series and introduced Kasparaitis to the rest of the NHL as one of the most "hated" players in the league.
{youtube width="640" height="505"}Pq9ZMostc1E{/youtube}
After spending most of the next four seasons on Long Island, Kasparaitis came to the Penguins early in the 1996-97 season along with Andreas Johansson in a deal which sent hold-out Bryan Smolinski to the Islanders.
The classic "hate to play against/love to play with" player, it didn't take long for Penguins fans to become enamoured with their one-time nemesis. After playing out the season as a member of the Penguins during Mario Lemieux's "farewell" tour prior to his first retirement, Kasparaitis became one of the Penguins' biggest stars. He cemented his place in Penguins lore with a thunderous hit on Eric Lindros, the hated captain of the rival Flyers late in the 1997-98 campaign:
{youtube width="640" height="505"}tylu3vEWwE4{/youtube}
It resulted in the first of what would be many concussions of Lindros' all-too-short career.
Due to injuries, Kasparaitis was limited to 48 games in 1998-99 but managed to rebound over the course of the next two seasons by appearing 73 and 77 games respectively.
A short, but physically stout player at 5-foot-11, 215 pounds, Kasparatis was hardly an offensive dynamo. He never scored more than 23 points in a season and his career high in goals was four. But the high point of his Penguins career may have been a goal. In overtime of Game 7 of the 2001 Eastern Conference semifinal in Buffalo, Kasparaitis beat arguably the top goaltender in the sport, Dominik Hasek, with a wrist shot from the right circle and sent the Penguins to the conference final.
{youtube width="640" height="505"}vuVy1sk3Kds{/youtube}
The 2001-02 season would be Kasparaitis' final campaign as a Penguin. With the franchise facing financial strife, general manager Craig Patrick dealt Kasparaitis, who was scheduled to become a free agent in the offseason, to the Avalanche in exchange for Ville Niemenen and Rick Berry.
Kasparaitis would last 11 regular season and 21 postseason games in Denver before joining the Rangers as a free agent in the 2002 offseason. His time with the Rangers was hardly memorable as the team struggled to reach the postseason and it was apparent Kasparaitis' style of play had taken its toll on his battered body. He never played more than 67 game in his three seasons with the Rangers. Due to his large contract and the implementation of the NHL's salary cap, the Rangers actually banished him to Hartford of the AHL in 2006-07 in order to get his deal off the books.
Early in the 2007-08 campaign, Kasparaitis would leave North America for good before moving on to Russia.
In an era when the Penguins were the class of the NHL in terms of offensive flair, Kasparaitis found a way to become one of the team's biggest stars by playing a style which was offensive in reputation only. He didn't have the explosiveness of Jaromir Jagr. He didn't have the dazzling pure skill of Alex Kovalev. And he certainly didn't have the elegance of Mario Lemieux. But for a short time, his star rivaled any other in the Penguins' universe. There's a reason you still his No. 11 on the backs of many fans at Penguins games.
In 405 games with the Penguins, Kapsaraitis recorded 83 points, 91st most in franchise history. His 661 penalty minutes are the 11th most in Penguins history.
(Photos: First-Peter Diana/Post-Gazette)